This is a blog about many things – primarily, my weight loss journey.
After being admitted to Hospital in July 2010 (for a condition unrelated to my weight), I was shocked to discover that I weighed 243 kilograms. At this point, I made the decision to have Lap-Band surgery – something I’d been thinking about doing for some time but had been putting off.
Please share the highs and lows with me as I go on this journey to strive to find a healthier and happier me.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Those bloody Golden Syrup dumplings

Well, I ended up giving into the Golden Syrup dumplings. I made them on Sunday night. It was good though as when it came time for me to eat them, I didn’t feel very hungry and only managed a Teaspoon full. My other addiction at the moment is Nachos. OMG – they make the best Nachos at Mad Mex at the food court near my work. I buy a Kid’s meal and manage to eat around 4 corn chips, a teaspoon of Avocado and a little bit of lettuce and fresh salsa. I feel so bad for eating it though but when I realise that I haven’t eaten much at all, I feel a lot better. The nutrition content of it mustn’t be that good but, hey, it happens.

I was mentioned in this month’s Genesis Melton Newsletter :) under ‘meet a Member’. Here it is…

I have been overweight my whole life. Primary School and High School were hell (I wish I would have gotten away with that Casey kid’s ‘body throw’ but, being at a prestigious private School, I don’t imagine I would have). I was bullied every single day and unfortunately, still experience this as an Adult at least twice a week by random people who don’t even know me.Much to my Husband’s and my shock, we found out we were expecting Twins back in August 2007. I was around about 175kg. It was a shock to find out that we would soon be parents of 4 (as we already had 2 boys). Unfortunately, I went through the experience of suffering from severe Post Natal Depression and it felt as though my life was put on pause for about 12 months. My health and weight didn’t seem important to me and when I stopped registering on my bathroom scales (which went up to 180kg), I didn’t think a lot of it.I went back to work in March 2010 and a few months afterwards, I was experiencing severe migraines. I was admitted to Epworth Private Hospital and they needed to run some tests, one being an MRI. The Neurologist asked me how much I weighed. I informed him that I was just over 175kg. He ‘gently’ told me that he thought that I was more than that. The Nurse lead me to one set of scales. I hopped on and it didn’t register. She said they must be broken. I asked her how much they went up to. She said 200kg. I hopped off and jumped back on again. They still didn’t register. I told her they weren’t broken, it must be the fact that I weighed over 200kg. I felt sick. I was crying to the point of hyperventilating. They got some other scales for me. I jumped on. I didn’t want to know how much I weighed but also knew that I had to find out. I was 243kg. I rang and made an appointment with Lap Band Surgeon, Dr Jason Winnett. Lap band was something I had been thinking about doing for some time but I had already broken 2 appointments with Dr Winnett. Shortly after I got out of the Hospital, I joined up with Genesis (on the 17th of August to be exact!).

I would have weighed 235kg. I had my lap band procedure on the 17th of November and weighed 220kg. I now weigh 191kg. That’s a loss of 52kg in 8 months!I have been training at least 3 times a week and I also see Michael for personal training and whatever he throws at me, I do. Since losing the weight, I am able to do things that I wasn’t able to do before. The seat belt in my car now does up without an extension, I can finally put my own shoes and socks on, I now fit in the shower at home, I can get out of the pool without assistance, I have a lot more energy and feel fantastic. I completed ‘relay for life’ in April and I have set myself a goal of climbing the 42 floors of the building I work in. I will do this in July. I am also doing the 1,000 steps walk up Mount Dandenong in a week.Things that I never thought I would do, I am accomplishing. The feeling of getting my life back is amazing and that feeling is what keeps me going when I just want to stop.With hard work, dedication and self discipline, I will be under 150kg by the end of the year. Something that I can’t imagine but something that I know is achievable as I have realised that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. It’s so cliché but, if I can do it, anyone can. Never say never (and I’m not meaning to quote Justin Bieber either – blah). The support that I have received from the Staff at Genesis is amazing. Everyone is so encouraging and helpful and I know that even though it’s a long way away, I will reach my goal.

I’ve had a few people come up and say hi to me since this has gone out. It’s great to know I’ve been able to inspire some people at the gym with my story.

I have my PT session today. I’m in a bit of a ‘mood’ at the moment (to say the least). I am annoyed at a few things and have a few issues that I am dealing with. Most of them will sort themselves out in time and I know that things should fall into place within the next few months. It’s just a matter of getting through them first. I hope I get to do some boxing! I feel like boxing something. Whatever I do today, I’ll be putting 110% into it to try and get rid of some of this negative energy.

I am going to see my Nanna and Poppa today. Nanna isn’t very well at all now. I stayed at Mum and Dad’s house last night and Dad and I are going over there this morning at 11ish. Nanna has an iPad2! She loves (or should I say loved) looking through my iPhone when I would go and see her that she decided she wanted a PC tablet. My Brother in Law bought her 2 over to try out but she was insistent that she wanted the ‘one like Stephanie’s’. I’m looking forward to her showing me what it does and how it works. I’ve seen an iPad2 for around about 30 seconds when I went to JB HiFi with the Twins. The Twins took the iPad off me and suggested that we go now as they were sitting in the trolley with it in their hands. No, we’re not going now and no, Mummy didn’t get a look in.